Four days after watching my first full game of football live on the television, the six-year old me was given a special treat and was allowed to stay up and watch the European Cup Final between the reigning champions Liverpool and the Belgian title winners FC Bruges.

The match took place at Wembley Stadium and was shown live on ITV with Brian Moore on commentary duty with a couple of Scouse flavoured sidekicks in Ian St John and Tommy Smith. Liverpool had been given a bye in the first round but had battled past Dresden, Benfica and old foes Borussia Moenchengladbach in their bid to retain their crown. The German side must have been sick of the sight of Liverpool in European competition having also lost to them in last years final as well as the 1973 UEFA Cup.

In a strange twist of fate Liverpool’s opponent in the final had also already been beaten by the Reds in the UEFA Cup Final in 1976, meaning that in four European finals, Liverpool had faced just two opponents. The Belgians had breezed past the Finnish side KuPS in the first round before facing three former finalists to get to Wembley in Panathanikos, Atletico Madrid and most impressively Juventus in the semi-final.

The match was Liverpool’s last chance of silverware for the season with Brian Clough’s upstart Nottingham Forest side having beaten them in the League Cup Final after a replay and had incredibly usurped the Reds as League Champions, winning the league title in their first season in the top flight after winning promotion.

There were six survivors from the Liverpool side that had triumphed in Rome the previous season in Ray Clemence, Phil Neal, Ray Kennedy, skipper Emlyn Hughes, Jimmy Case and Terry McDermott. Alan Hansen came into the side at left back, Phil Thompson replaced the injured Tommy Smith in the heart of defence and Graeme Souness adding bite and a touch of class to the midfield. Up front David Fairclough got the nod to partner the new King of the Kop, Kenny Dalglish.

Dalglish had been brought in the previous summer to replace the departing Kevin Keegan and his transition had been seamless. He had already scored 30 goals and whilst Keegan was certainly not forgotten, Dalglish was already on his way to being a legend, and this night would certainly enhance his reputation.

Bruges were fairly unheralded, despite the quality of opponent they had seen off to get to Wembley. Rene Vanderychen was a key man in midfield and their attack had been enhanced by the acquisition of Hungarian Lajos Ku, who had only made his debut in the Belgian weekend the previous week.

Their was a capacity crowd inside Wembley Stadium with the majority obviously backing Liverpool who got the game underway, kicking off with the brand new Adidas Tango football which would be used in the forthcoming World Cup in Argentina. Things were pretty cagey from the off, with the only thing of interest happening being the pronunciation of the Liverpool number 11 as “Sow-Ness” by Brian Moore.

In fact there was barely a sniff of goal in the opening 20 minutes, Liverpool carving out the only half chance with a cross field ball towards Fairclough that the man known as “Super Sub” headed down for Dalglish who was beaten to the ball by the quick actions of the Dane in goal for Bruges, Birger Jensen.

The Belgians were playing a very high line trying to catch Liverpool in their offside trap and it took the Reds 20 minutes to finally break it. It was Fairclough again causing the problems, escaping his marker on the left hand side and he crossed looking for Jimmy Case in the middle. Case was unable to shake off the attentions of the Bruges defence but the ball fell for Dalglish on the left hand side of the area but he wasted the chance by chipping the ball into the arms of Jensen.

Liverpool were the only team threatening to score in the first half hour and had another chance on 28 minutes. This time the chance was created on the right, McDermott fizzing the ball into the box and away from a Bruges defender who had lost his footing. Unfortunately for Liverpool Ray Kennedy, also on the back post slipped at the crucial moment and his shot skewed across the face of goal.

Case who would be 24 the following week got himself an early birthday card a couple of minutes later as he went in late on Gino Maes when chasing a ball on the edge of the Bruges area. Ian St John in the commentary box branded the referee’s decision as “ridiculous” and even when the replay showed Case clearly raking his studs down the back of the opponents calf claimed the challenge was “accidental”, his red tinted spectacles obviously clouding his vision.

Five minutes later the Belgians exacted a measure of revenge, Vandereychen diving in on Case 25 yards out in a central position, giving Liverpool a free-kick and the Belgian a booking. Case was the man given the chance to strike the shot and he did so with a thunderbolt that produced the first real save of the night, Jensen diving full stretch to punch the ball away.

It was all Liverpool now as the game began to swing totally in their favour. Once again Fairclough started the problems for the Bruges back line, breaking through the offside trap and bearing down on the Belgian goal. He was tapped from behind and elected to continue on rather than fall and accept the free kick but his momentum had been stalled and Berger took the opportunity to rush out and hack the ball away. However his clearance ricocheted off his own defender and into the path of Dalglish on the left hand side of the box and he cleverly picked out the forward run of Souness who met the ball sweetly on the volley but his effort flew over the bar.

Liverpool were ending the half well on top and had more opportunities before the break, a cross from the right headed wide by McDermott and then the number 10 turning provider chipping the ball over the defence for Fairclough to chase, but again he was thwarted by the quick reactions of Jensen in the Bruges goal. With two minutes to go in the first half, Jensen was forced into action again, McDermott this time picking out the head of Hansen who saw the keeper react to tip the ball over the bar.

The second half started in the same way as the first half ended, with Liverpool on top and Birger Jensen keeping out all their efforts. Just two minutes in, Fairclough again found space on the left hand side and slid the ball across the penalty area into the path of Dalglish, but the keeper was once again out quickly, got something on the shot and helped it to squirt away from the goal.

Liverpool were still faced with the challenge of beating the Bruges offside trap and Terry McDermott found the best solution to the problem was simply to run through it, bursting from the centre circle right through the heart of the defensive line and through on goal, finding himself one on one with Jensen. Once again the keeper was out quickly and was at the penalty spot as McDermott reached the edge of the area and was perfectly placed to make the save as the Liverpool man drove the ball straight at him.

Just as Liverpool spurned their best chance, Bruges got their first, Vandereychen trying his luck from 25 yards out but shooting straight at the so far untroubled Clemence.

On the hour mark Bruges made a change, bringing on Dirk Sanders for the Hungarian, Ku. At the same time Liverpool started to change their tactics, knocking the ball long from the back “an alehouse ball” according to Brian Moore. With 25 minutes to go Bob Paisley made his first change, bringing on Steve Heighway forJimmy Case, who had been totally anonymous in the second period.

Just a minute after the introduction of Heighway, Liverpool made the breakthrough and Dalglish wrote himself into Anfield folklore. Graeme Souness collected the ball on the edge of the Bruges box as they failed to clear their lines and he slipped a lovely ball beyond the quickly advancing defenders into the path of Dalglish who had snuck in on the right hand side of the box and delicately chipped the ball over the onrushing Jensen and watched with delight as it sailed into the net at the far post. “It’s there. Dalglish!” exclaimed Moore as the Liverpool striker rushed towards the fans behind the goal, vaulting the hoardings and crossing the greyhound track to celebrate. “Just look at those Liverpool players” he said as the team went wild in their celebrations.

And that was all that was needed to seal the win, Bruges never looked like creating anything in the way of an equaliser and were gifted their only opportunity when Hansen made his only error of the night, leaving a back pass to Clemence short, allowing Sorensen to nip in and try to force the ball past the keeper, the rebound falling to Simoen who stroked the ball goalwards only to see Thompson get back to clear the ball off the line, a moment that Brian Moore commented that “Tommy Smith nearly fell out of the stand then.”

It was as close as Brugge got all night and 10 minutes later Dutch referee Charles Coerver blew the whistle that confirmed Liverpool as European Champions for the second time, the first British club to achieve that feat. Emlyn Hughes led his men up the steps, mobbed by supporters as he made his way to collect the trophy, and almost having it taken from him as he made his way back down the steps before the lap of honour. It was the closest Liverpool had come to losing their grip on the trophy all night. It would slip from their hands and into the possession of another English club over the next 12 months.